Ditching and grading machine.



.E. LITTLE. Dncmm; AND GRADIN G MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26, I917- .Patented Feb. 5, 1918 3 SHEETS-SHEETI.

INVENTOH WITNESSES ATTORNEI E. LITTLE. DITCHING AND GRADING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26, 19!?- Patented Feb. 5,1918- 3 SHEETS-SHEET2.

WITNESSES ATTORNEY E. LITTLE.

D ITCHING AND GRADING MACHINE. APPLICATIDN FILED SEPT. 26. 1917.

Patented Feb. 5,1918.v

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- WiTNESSES W "if QMW! .INVENTOIEI ATTORNEY EI'JTGHINGAND GRADING MACHIIEQ'E.

Specification of Letters Patent:

Patented Feb. 5, .Wdd

Application filed September 26, llli'l. Serial No. 1.933%.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that 1, Emma LITTLE, a. citizen of the United States,residing at Owensboro, in the county of Daviess and State ofKentucky,have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in Ditching andGrading. Machines, of which the following'is a specification.

This invention relates to ditching and grading machines, and moreparticularly to a machine so constructed as to be readily used forconstructing ditches for laying tile or for grading road surfaces, asdesired.

One of the main objects of the invention is toprovide a machine of thecharacter stated of simple construction and operation which may beproduced at relatively-small cost. Another object is to provide amachine having ground wheels which are car ried by vertically adjustableshafts so as to permit the scraper blade to be adjusted vertically, orset at an angle, to suit circumstances. A further object is to provide amachine the angle of the scraper blade of which to the line of draft maybe quickly and easily adjusted to suit circumstances. Another object isto provide a machine having lateral cutting elements so as to insure theproduction of a clean cut. Further objects will appear from the detaileddescription. 1

In the drawings:

Figure-1 is a top plan vie'wof a machine constructed in accordance Withmy invention as used for digging relatively shallow ditches or forgrading.

Fig. '2 is a View in side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view ofthe machine as used for digging deepditches.

Fig. t is a fragmentary side view of the same.

Fig. 5 is a section taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 4:- I

The body or mold-board l of the scraper blade is fiat and ofsubstantially rectangular shape, being formed from sheet metal ofsuitable gage. An angledron stripfl is secured to the rear. face ofplate '1, the upper surface of the horizontal arm of this strip beingflush with the upper edge of the late. An angle-strip 3 similar to strip2 is secured to plate 1 adjacent the lower edge thereof, with itshorizontal arm pro ecting below the lower edge of the plate. Thehorizontal arms of stripsi? and 3 are in the at rig t angles to theplane of the b0 same vertical plane and are provided, a 1

tegral rectangularly disposed fork 5 in" which 'is rotatably mounted asupporting ground wheel 6. "A hand lever 7 is pivoted on shaft 4:intermediate its ends, as 2113.8. This lever is provided with a springpressed detent 9 controlled by a hand latch 10, this detent coiiperatingwith an arcuate rack 11 fixedlwsecured to the upper end portion of theshaft so as t lock the hand lever in locked adjustment about its pivot.lhe lower end of lever 7 is connected by a short cable 12 to an eye 13secured on the upper face of the horizontal arm of anglestrlp 2. Theopenings of the shaft l are of slightly greater diameter than the shaftsso asto permit the end portions of the plate 1 to be adjustedindependently of each other. By rocking lever 7 about its pivotal axis,the end portion of platel to which this lever is secured will be eitherraised or lowered depending upon the direction of movement of thelever.- If both of the levers are rocked simultaneously and similarly,the plate 1 will be either raised or lowered for its full length. If butone of the lovers is rocked, one end portion only of the'blade will beadjusted, thus permitting quick and easy angular adjustment of the bladein a vertical plane.

A bracing beam l2 1s mounted in paral-- lel spaced relation to the rearedge of the horizontal arm of strip 2. -End bars 13' I are providedateach end of strip 2 and beam 12, and are secured thereto by the spacedsecuring bolts 14 and 15 inserted through the end bar andzthe horizontalarm of strip 2 and the beam .12, respectively. Each of these end. barsis arched downwardl at each endand'twistedtinto a plane y of the'bar soas to provide a supporting arm .16. The outer end portion of this arm isodset to provide a, platefl'? through which is secured a bearingboll-.18 on whichis rotatably mounted a cutter disk 19. These disks ateachend of themachine are disposed in alinement and project laterally ofthe machine. A traction-pole 20 is secured to the center of thehorizontal. arm of stri -2 by an elongated securing bolt inserts toreceive the adapted to receive the through the saine, this boltextendingthrough the horizontal arm of the lower strip 3 and the end of the beam.20 which is provided with a bowed portion 2'1, the end of the beainbeing bent back under the horizontal arm of strip 3. A securing bolt 231s inserted through the beam 20 in rear of bolt 21 andthrough the beam12. A brace bar 24 is pivotally securedat its rearward end to thehorizontal arm of strip 2 by a bolt 25 inserted through the same and thestrip. This bar is provided, through its forward portion, with a seriesof spaced apertures 26 which are adapted to be moved into register withthe spaced apertures 27 provided through pole 20. A securing pin 28 isinserted through the alinedapertures of the bolt and the bar, this pinserving toprevent movement of'the pole. 'hen the pole 20 is thus lockedin position, the strip 2 and beam 12 are securely locked in parallelspaced relation. By ren'ioving pin :28, the pjble it) may be rockedabout the bolt 21 so as to vary the angular adjustment between the poleand the plate 1. The stripa! and beam 12 together with the end bars 13",constitute t jointed parallelogrmtr so that, when pole 20 is rockedabout bolt 21, beam 12 will'he moved either toward or. away from thestrip 2, and the end bars 13" will be maintained in parallelism with thepole 20 thus insuring that the disks 1!) will be at all times directedforwardly of the machine. The pole 20 may be readily secured in anydesired adjustment by means of the cooperating apertures 26 and 27 ofthe bar 24 and pole 20, respectively, and the pin 28.

The bow 22 of pole it) provides a resilient support for the ,scatstandard 2!) upon the upper end of which is swiveled a seat 30. -Thisseat is so positioned as to permit the operator to easily reach thelevers 7, the beam 12 providing a support or rest for the feet. of -theopcratm'. ly this construction, the-vertical adjustment. of the platemay be readily etlected. and is easily controlled, by the operator whenthe machine is in use.

As will be noted more particularly from Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings,the horizonan arm of angular strip 2 is provided with a plurality ofspaced openings 30 adapted securing bolt 2], these openings being invertical alincment with similar openings through the horizontal arm ofstrip 3. The beam 12 is also provided with a. plurality of spa'zedapertures 31 bolt. 23. By this means, the pole 20 may be adjustedlongitudinally of strip 2 and beam 1'2 so as to vary the line of drafttransversely of the machine to ,suit special conditions.

An ar uate scraper blade 32 is detaehably secured to the vertical arm 3means of bolts and nuts, or in any other suit;-

wheel 34.

. and the upper face of pole 'lcver 7, the blade 32 may of strip 3 byable manner. The upper edge of this blade fits snugly against the loweredge of this plate 1 so as to present a smooth surface for directin thematerial scraped laterally of the machine in the well known manner.

A vertical supporting shaft 32 is slidably mounted through the forwardend of pole 20, and through a. hammer strap 33 secured to the under-faceof the pole. This shaft is provided with a fork at its lower end inwhich is rotatably mounted a ground Shaft. is provided with a verticallyextending series of spaced apertures 35. The spaces between lllQSapertures c0rrespond t the distance between the underface of the. lowerarm of hammer strap 33 20 so that. by inserting cotter-pins 36 and 37'through these apertures above the pole and beneath the hammer strap theforward end of the pole may be secured in vertical :uljustment of theshaft. The port ion of shaft 32 intermcdiate the pole and the hammerstrap forms a bearing member fo'r'a sleeve. 3!) which carries theapertured clevis-block 38 which provides traction attaching means.

As the machine is drawn forward, the blade engages into the. earth so asto scrape the upper portion thereof oil'- and direct it laterally of themachine. By means of the be tilted so as to cause one end portionthereof to cut. into the earth relatively. deeply, the earth rcmoved bythis portion of the blade being di rectcd toward the other side of themachine. liy reversing the adjustment of the blade on the return trip, acomparatively dccp cut will be made at the other side of the ditch whichis being formed. l v repeating this operation, the material which hasbeen scraped or cut? oil will be directed to one side of the ditch. anda shallow ditch may be readily dug. During this digging opera tion, thecutting disks 1!) act. to cut all roots or rubbish such a would tend tointerfere with the operation of the machine, thus producing a ditchhaving clean cut and clcarlv defined lateral walls or lJtlllltH. Thism:ichine may also be readily used for scraping and road grading, forwhich purpose it is particularly well adapted due to the. readiness withwhich the angle of the scraping blade may be adjusted. Also, byadjusting the angle to the line of draft, the etl'ective width of themachine may be read In digging deep ditches, the end bars 13 and theconnecting beam 12 are removed, after which a side plate 40 is securedat. an angle to the front plate 1. This side plate is of substantiallyrectangular shape, having its lower corner rounded. This plate isprovided at its upper edge with an integral inwardly directed horizontalflange 41. At each end of the plate, a bracket 42 is secured to theflange Hit) lit)

41. This bracket is proreadies vided at its upper end with a horizontalarm 43 disposed at aright angle to the body of the bracket. To thevertical arm of plate ac,

at the transverse center and at each end thereof, is secured a bracket44: which is dieposed in parallelism with the upper arm 43 of bracketi2. Thebraclrets 4:2 and M are end secured through an a'pertured lug 46secured on the how 22 of pole 20 for this purpose. The outer end of thisred is turned downward at a right angle to provide a finger which may besecured through any one of the spaced. apertures d7 through thehorizontal arm of plate 40, selectively. By this means, the lateralplate may be rigidly secured in parallelism with the draft ole'QG. Asthe machine is drawn forward,

It will be evident that there may be slight changes made in theconstruction and arrangement of thedifi'erent parts of my inventionwithout departing from the field 86 and scope of the same, and l intendto include all such variations as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims, in this application in which a preferred form only of myinvention is disclosed.

What I claim is: 1. In a scraping and ditcl'ling machinh, a

front plate, a beam mounted in parallel spaced relation therewith, endbars pivotally secured directly to the endso'f said plate and beam,cutter disks rotatably mounted on the ends of each of said end bars anddirected torwardly of the machine, a traction pole pivotally secured tothe front plate and to the beam, a scraping blade carried by said frontplate, said pole being in parallelism with the end bars, and means fornormally preventing relative movement between said front plate and saidbeam..

2. In a scraping and ditching machine, a so scraping blade, a beammounted in parallelism therewith, end bars pivotally connected directlyto the ends of the blade and. beam, cutter disks carried by saidend'bars at each plate ill is pressed against the side wall or s endthereof and directed forwardly of the 5 bank of the ditch being formedto prevent machine, a traction pole plvotally connected lateral movementof the machine thus insurto said blade and beam, means tor normally ingaccuracy of operation. The earth which preventing movement of said polerelative to is dug or scraped is directed to the center of the blade andbeam, and vertically adjustthe ditch from each side, from which it mayable ground wheels carried by said blade for so be removed in anysuitable manner. lnthis adjusting the same toward and away fromconstruction, the blade 32 may be adjusted the surface being operatedupon. i vertically bodily, or may be set at an angle in a scraping andditching machine, a to the vertical, to suit conditions, scrapingblade,-a beam. mountedin parallel-- When it is desired to transfer themaism therewith, end bars piv'cytally secured tov chine, the plate 1 maybe raised on the shafts the ends of said blade and beam intermediate 4:by means of the end levers 7 'in the mantheir ends, the end. portions ofeach of said ner previously described, and the forward end bars beingarched downwardly and bent end of pole20 may be raised on the shaft toprovide downwardly directed supporting 32 By his means, the cutting orscraping arms, cutting disks rotatably, supported by is;

raised position well above the ground surface thus permitting themachine to be easily moved from one scene of'operation to another. Whenit is desired to use. the machine, it is only necessary to. reverse theoperation described so as to bring the blade and disks into operativeengagement with the round. tor digging deep ditches may be readilyadjusted vertically in the same manner for transportation purposes.

The form shown in Figs. .3 and d blade and the disk 19 maybe secured ineach of said arms and directed forwardly er the machine, a draft polepivotally secured to said blade and beam, and means for pre-. ventingrelative movement between the draft pole and the blade and beam. ion

In testimony whereof]; aliix my signature in presence of two"witnesses.

henna martin.

Witnesses: i

WILBUR ll. Mmnna, Gnu'rnnn ltll. Perms.

